RWE wins bid to build 1GW offshore wind farm in Danish waters

German utility RWE has been awarded the contract by the Danish government to build a large-scale wind farm in the North Sea, beating out international competition in a lottery, Tagesspiegel Background reports. With a capacity of 1000 megawatt (MW), the “Thor” power plant is to be the biggest wind farm in Danish waters. According to the state energy agency, Thor is the world’s first offshore windfarm project in which the state has to be paid, Tagesspiegel Background writes. RWE is expected to pay 375 million euro, given the expected electricity prices, within the first three years of operation. After that, there would in practice be no more financial transactions between the state and the winning bidder, and the wind farm would go without support for the rest of the 30 years of operation. The plant is set to go into operation in 2027.

RWE has also started testing a new technology for offshore wind generation off the coast of Norway, Der Spiegel reports. Together with Japanese energy company Tepco and Royal Dutch Shell, RWE is testing out a floating wind turbine technology in which turbines are anchored to the seabed with chains. The design could help make it easier to install and connect offshore wind turbines in numerous locations that were previously difficult to access, der Spiegel writes.